Pricing Of Hand Carved Belts

[mike59]

I'm sure this may have been discussed before, but am also sure that many of the makers are confused about pricing their work. I will ask this of the high-end belt makers;

What is a realistic price to ask for a custom made, hand carved belt? I find that with the pattern design, I normally will have about thirty-five to forty hours in high-end custom made belt.

At fifteen dollars an hour, which is my shop rate, it's easy to have six-hundred dollars in a belt, just in labor. That's twice what anyone seems to be willing to pay. Am I taking too long,

or charging too much?

Any, and all comments will be appreciated.

[pete]

Please, I don't mean to offend you but, are you really slow at carving and finishing? What kind of belts take 40 hours!? I tool sheridan style belts and have them out in 3 days.

To answer your question, a suggestion MIGHT be to charge by the inch. I know many makers who charge 2-3 dollars an inch, some a dollar an inch.

Again- no offense to you and your projects.

pete

[pete]

After reading your note again- I think that you must be making "Peter Main" quality high end belts, so you very well could have 30 hours in them!

I apologize if I offended you and I would love to see the work that you are doing as I am always trying to improve me workmanship

respectfully,

pete

[MADMAX22]

I dont have a business and charge far less then what its worth but I have recently been trying to keep track of my time while making things. I am a somewhat slow tooler due to not that experienced so that has some factor in it.

For say a 50" total belt (about a 34" waste I think) it takes me roughly about 5-8 hrs tooling, about 2-3 hours hand stitching (hand stitch everything right now), say about 2 hours for all finishing and edging. Throw in some reasonable fudge factor so around total 15 hrs say for a complete belt of actual work time.

Personally I would be happy to get around $160 or so for a tooled nice belt. Then again like I said I dont have a shop and with limited experience. Once I get better I could see charging more. Ofcourse that depends on what the customer is willing to pay as well.

Would love to see some pictures of your work by the way.

Edited June 5, 2010 by MADMAX22

[mike59]

After reading your note again- I think that you must be making "Peter Main" quality high end belts, so you very well could have 30 hours in them!

I apologize if I offended you and I would love to see the work that you are doing as I am always trying to improve me workmanship

respectfully,

pete

No need to appologize, Pete, I feel that I am spending too much time on these as well, however, I am including my pattern layout design on customers' request orders into that time as well.

I can't compare to Peter Main's work, as I am afraid that I'm not well aquainted with his belts. I do understand that his work is acceptional, and do not claim to be in that class.

I would ask about your post of April 30, 2010 concerning the time you spent on a layout design for a belt. I believe you stated that you spent 2 hours and not reached the second flower? I think this may be some of the labor time I am refering to. I would also ask that on a belt order, you stated that you would have it carved, finished, and out in three days. How many hours per day have you devoted to these belts?

Part of my point is that I try, as do you, I'm sure, to make the best product for the customer that I possibly can, and for that effort, I expect to make a reasonable return on my investment of time, tools and shop costs.

If you are interested in seeing some of my work, you can go to my website; www.mbarsranchgear.com or at some of the pictures in my gallery.

I very much appreciate your response.

Mike

[mike59]

I dont have a business and charge far less then what its worth but I have recently been trying to keep track of my time while making things. I am a somewhat slow tooler due to not that experienced so that has some factor in it.

For say a 50" total belt (about a 34" waste I think) it takes me roughly about 5-8 hrs tooling, about 2-3 hours hand stitching (hand stitch everything right now), say about 2 hours for all finishing and edging. Throw in some reasonable fudge factor so around total 15 hrs say for a complete belt of actual work time.

Personally I would be happy to get around $160 or so for a tooled nice belt. Then again like I said I dont have a shop and with limited experience. Once I get better I could see charging more. Ofcourse that depends on what the customer is willing to pay as well.

Would love to see some pictures of your work by the way.

Thanks for your input. I know that I'm slow as well, but I want it to be right. I do know that some of our competitors belts start at around $250.00 and go up from there, and my stuff is every bit as good as theirs. I know that doesn't mean much, but I just wanted a real world opinion on "realistic" pricing and expectations. If you are interested you can see some of my work at; www.mbarsranchgear.com or on my gallery here on LW.

Thanks for your response,

Mike

[dustin29]

Thanks for your input. I know that I'm slow as well, but I want it to be right. I do know that some of our competitors belts start at around $250.00 and go up from there, and my stuff is every bit as good as theirs. I know that doesn't mean much, but I just wanted a real world opinion on "realistic" pricing and expectations. If you are interested you can see some of my work at; www.mbarsranchgear.com or on my gallery here on LW.

Thanks for your response,

Mike

I don't know much about pricing, but I would like to say you're right your stuff is definately very nice.

[JLSleather]

I don't know that there is a "formula" for this, Mike.

I've seen people pass up some very nice work to pay MORE for a piece that had me wondering what that cow did to the "crafter" to deserve that done to it Apparently, the buyer was one of those who thinks that more expensive = better.

Can't really go by time invested, cuz I've seen 20 hours of work turn into some gorgeous pieces AND 20 hours become a disaster. And then there's that thing where you and I both make the same item. If the items are equally attractive and durable, reason says they should be the same price - even if it took me twice as long.

Sadly, there's an old saying that "fair market value" is what you can get. Skipping long conversations about stuff I've sold, here's a couple o' quick thoughts about the sales I DIDN'T get ... one where the customer thought that was WAY too much money for ANY handbag where the clasp and dees weren't REAL gold, and one where the price was SO "reasonable" they thought there MUST be something wrong with it!

These days, I just figure what it's worth to ME to do it. If a potential customer likes that, great. If for any reason they don't agree with me, that's okay too.

OH, before I get out of the way ... just wanted to say I like your work

Edited June 6, 2010 by JLSleather

[mike59]

I don't know much about pricing, but I would like to say you're right your stuff is definately very nice.

Much obliged Dustin.

[TwinOaks]

Am I taking too long,

or charging too much?

Either yes, or you have the wrong customer base. As I've read on here: If you get all the jobs you bid, you're charging too little, if you get none, you're charging too much. I suggest developing a few shortcuts. Have some "pattern packs" available as standard fare, complete with 'craft-aid' style stencils. That should help with the layout time, and if you have a customer wanting a completely original piece, show them the cost. If they're willing to pay it, you've got a $600 belt customer. If they balk, drop back down to something you already have drawn up.

I looked at the belts you have on your website and, yes, they're nice. But if you don't have a customer base willing to pay for it, then you either drop prices, drop products, or find new clientele.